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Seattle City Information

Seattle is the northernmost major city in the continental United States, and the largest city in the Pacific Northwest and in the state of Washington. A seaport situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound (an arm of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington, about 100 miles south of the Canada, it is named after Chief
Seattle, of the Duwamish and Suquamish native tribes. Seattle is the center of the Seattle Tacoma Bellevue metropolitan statistical area, the 15th largest in the United States, and the largest in the northwestern United States. Seattle is the county seat of King County and is the major economic, cultural and educational center in the region. As of April 2009, the city's population was approximately 617,000 within a metropolitan area of 4,158,000. The Port of Seattle and Seattle Tacoma International Airport are major gateways to Asia, Alaska, and the rest of the world.

Seattle is the birthplace of rock legend Jimi Hendrix and the rock music style known as grunge, which was made famous by local groups Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam. Bruce Lee and his son Brandon are both buried at Lakeview cemetery.Seattle has a reputation for heavy coffee consumption; coffee companies founded or based in Seattle include Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, and Tully's. There are also many successful independent artisanal espresso roasters and cafes.

Seattle's temperate, rainy climate is usually described as temperate, with mild, damp winters and relatively dry and mild summers. Like much of the Pacific Northwest, it falls within a cool, dry summer subtropical zone, with cool summer Mediterranean characteristics such as its usually dry summers.

Temperature extremes are moderated by adjacent Puget Sound, the greater Pacific Ocean, and Lake Washington. The region is partially protected from Pacific storms by the Olympic Mountains and from Arctic air by the Cascade Range. Despite being on the margin of the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, the city has a reputation for frequent rain. This reputation derives from this frequency of precipitation (150 days of precipitation) as well as the fact that it is cloudy an average of 201 days and 93 partly cloudy days per year. At 37.1 inches, the city receives less precipitation than New York, Atlanta, Houston, and most cities of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Seattle was also not listed in a study that revealed the 10 rainiest cities in the continental United States. Most of the precipitation
falls as drizzle or light rain. Thunderstorms occur only occasionally. Seattle reports thunder on just seven days per year. For comparison Fort Myers, Florida reports thunder on 93 days per year. Kansas City reports 52 'thunder days' and New York City reports 25. Hotter weather usually occurs only during a few summer days. Seattle's hottest official recorded temperature was 103 degrees on July 29, 2009; the coldest recorded temperature was 0 degreeson January 31,

Seattle Economy

Seattle's economy is driven by a mix of older industrial companies, and "new economy" Internet and technology companies, service, design and clean technology companies. The Port of Seattle is a major economic engine. Though it has been affected by the recent recession, Seattle has retained a comparatively strong economy, and remains a hotbed for start-up businesses, especially in green building and clean technologies: it was ranked as America's Number1 "smarter city" based on its government policies and green economy. The Seattle housing market, especially in center city neighborhoods, has not seen the sort of drop in value most housing markets around the nation have seen in recent years. The Seattle region's economy is increasingly diverse and multi-sectoral. Still, very large companies dominate the business landscape. Six companies on the 2008 Fortune 500 list of the United States' largest companies, based on total revenue are headquartered in Seattle: former financial services company Washington Mutual (the banking business of which is now part of JPMorgan Chase) (#97), Internet retailer Amazon.com (#171), coffee chain Starbucks (#277), department store Nordstrom (#299), insurance company Safeco (#388), and global logistics firm Expeditors International (#458). Other Fortune 500 companies popularly associated with Seattle are based in nearby Puget Sound cities. Warehouse club chain Costco (#29), the largest company in Washington, is based in Issaquah. Microsoft (#44) and Nintendo of America are located in Redmond. Weyerhaeuser, the forest products company (#147), is based in Federal Way. Finally, Bellevue is home to truck manufacturer PACCAR (#169), and to international mobile telephony giant T Mobile's U.S. subsidiary, T Mobile USA. Prior to moving its headquarters to Chicago, aerospace manufacturer Boeing (#27) was the largest company based in Seattle. Its largest division is still headquartered in nearby Renton, and the company has large aircraft manufacturing plants in Everett and Renton, so it remains the largest private employer in the Seattle metropolitan area

Seattle Neighborhoods

Like all cities, Seattle has a wide variety of neighborhoods that make up its unique character. Among the bestknown, architecturally significant, or well visited neighborhoods are Alki Beach, Ballard, Capitol Hill, Fremont, Madison Park, International District, Kirkland, Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square, Queen Anne Hill, Redmond, Seattle Center, University District and Waterfront.

Seattle Culture and Living

Seattle has been a regional center for the performing arts for many years. The century-old Seattle Symphony Orchestra is among the world's most recorded and performs primarily at Benaroya Hall. The Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet, which perform at McCaw Hall, are comparably distinguished,with the Opera being particularly known for its performances of the works of Richard Wagner. The Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras (SYSO) is the largest symphonic youth organization in the United States. The city also boasts lauded summer and winter chamber music festivals organized by the Seattle Chamber Music Society.Seattle is considered the home of grunge music because it was home to artists such as Soundgarden, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Mudhoney, all of whom reached vast audiences in the early 1990s. The city is also home to such varied musicians as avant garde jazz musicians Bill Frisell and Wayne Horvitz, rapper Sir Mix a Lot, smooth jazz saxophonist Kenny G, Heart, heavy metal bands Queensryche, and Nevermore, as well as such poppier rock bands as Harvey Danger, Goodness, and The Presidents of the United States of America. Such musicians as Jimi Hendrix, Duff McKagan, Nikki Sixx, and Quincy Jones spent their formative years in Seattle. Since the grunge era, the area has hosted a diverse and influential alternative music scene. The Seattle record label Sub Pop the first to sign Nirvana and Soundgarden has signed such non-grunge bands as Band of Horses, Modest Mouse, Murder City Devils, Sunny Day Real Estate, Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service, Flight of the Conchords, and Fleet Foxes.

Among Seattle's prominent annual fairs and festivals are the 24 day Seattle International Film Festival, Northwest Folklife over the Memorial Day weekend, numerous Seafair events throughout July and August, the Bite of Seattle, one of the largest Gay Pride festivals in the United States, and the art and music festival Bumbershoot, which programs music as well as other art and entertainment over the Labor Day weekend. All are typically attended by 100,000 people annually, as are the Seattle Hempfest and two separate Independence Day celebrations. In the past, the Gay Pride parade and festival have been centered on Capitol Hill, but since 2006, festivities have been held city wide, and the parade has followed a route in Downtown from the retail core to Seattle Center.Other significant events include numerous Native American pow-wows, a Greek Festival hosted by St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Montlake, and numerous ethnic festivals.

Seattle is home to several major professional sports teams, including the Seattle Seahawks (National Football League, the Seattle Mariners (Major League Baseball) and the Seatlle Sounders (Major League Soccer).

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Seattle Colleges and Universities

Many notable private universities are located in Seattle, including Seattle is home to one of the United States' most respected public research universities, the University of Washington, as well as its professional and continuing Education unit, University of Washington Educational Outreach. A study by Newsweek International in 2006 cited UW as the twenty second best university in the world. Seattle also has a number of smaller private universities including Seattle University and Seattle Pacific University, both founded by religious groups; universities aimed at the working adult, like City University and Antioch University; colleges, such as North Seattle Community College, Seattle Central Community College, and South Seattle Community College; and a number of arts colleges, such as Cornish College of the Arts and The Art Institute of Seattle. In 2001, Time magazine selected Seattle Central Community College as community college of the year.

Seattle Public Transportation

King County Metro provides frequent stop bus service within the city and surrounding county,as well as a streetcar line between the South Lake Union neighborhood and Westlake Center in downtown. Seattle is one of the few cities in North America whose bus fleet includes electric trolleybuses. Sound Transit currently provides an express bus service within the metropolitan area; two Sounder commuter rail lines between the suburbs and downtown; and its Central Link light rail line, which opened in 2009, between downtown and Sea-Tac Airport gives the city its first rapid transit line that has intermediate stops within the city limits. Washington State Ferries, which manages the largest network of ferries in the United States and third largest in the world, connects Seattle to Bainbridge and Vashon Islands in Puget Sound and to Bremerton and Southworth on the Kitsap Peninsula.

According to the 2007 American Community Survey, 18.6 percent of Seattle residents used one of the three public transit systems that serve the city, giving it the highest transit ridership of all major cities without heavy or light rail prior to the completion of Sound Transit's Central Link line. Seattle Tacoma International Airport, locally known as Sea Tac Airport and located just south in the neighboring city of SeaTac, is operated by the Port of Seattle and provides commercial air service to destinations throughout the world. Closer to downtown, Boeing Field is used for general aviation, cargo flights, and testing/delivery of Boeing airliners. Use rentbits to find apartments for rent and houses for rent that are near King County Metro.

Metro Seattle Cities and Communities

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